Eko 2099 was inspired by the vibrant, chaotic energy of modern Lagos and the desire to imagine a future where West African traditions aren't just preserved, but evolved. We wanted to move away from Western "cyberpunk" tropes and instead build a "Solar-punk / Afrofuturist" world where technology serves as a bridge to ancestral wisdom. The concept of the "Cyber-Griot"—a technician who heals data-streams like a traditional storyteller heals a community—became our core pillar
Eko 2099 is an immersive RPG where players navigate a digital version of Lagos to purge the "Esu-Blight" virus. Unlike traditional RPGs with fixed outcomes, our Neuro-Symbolic Narrative Engine allows players to type any custom action (e.g., "I call upon the lightning of Sango"). A dynamic AI Game Master then interprets these actions in real-time, modifying the player’s Life-Force and Ase (spiritual authority) while weaving a story that blends formal English with Nigerian Pidgin.
How we built it The game is built on a custom Python engine using Pygame-Community Edition for the visuals and Groq (Llama 3.3 70B) for the narrative brain. We used Pydantic to enforce a strict JSON schema on the AI's responses, ensuring it could directly modify game stats without crashing the engine. The world-building is modular, using JSON-based "Story Graphs" that the AI can traverse and expand.
Challenges we ran into One of our biggest hurdles was keeping the narrative "sandbox" from drifting too far off track. We implemented a Plot-Resiliency system that guides the AI back to major story nodes if it's been in the sandbox for too long. We also had to pivot quickly when our initial Llama 3.1 models were decommissioned, leading us to optimize for the newer Llama 3.3 high-speed inference.
Accomplishments that we're proud of We are incredibly proud of the Cultural Authenticity we achieved in the AI's "Voice of the Orishas." Getting an LLM to consistently and naturally use Nigerian Pidgin within a high-stakes sci-fi context felt like a major win. Additionally, creating a UI that feels both "high-tech" and "ancestral" using custom color palettes (Yellow, Neon Purple, Charcoal) was a rewarding design challenge.
What we learned Building a stateful AI Game Master taught us the importance of "Neuro-Symbolic" design. We learned how to blend rigid, reliable story arcs with the unpredictable creativity of LLMs. We also gained deep experience in prompt engineering for cultural nuance and the complexities of real-time API state management in a Python GUI environment.
What's next for Eko 2099: The Orisha Protocol We want to expand the "Link" to include Multiplayer Data-Bridges, where multiple Cyber-Griots can enter a shared sandbox to purge viruses together. We also plan to deepen the "Orisha Lore" with more distinct AI personalities for each deity and eventually port the engine to mobile to bring the futuristic streets of Eko to more players.
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